My Works
Latina Teens, Migration, and Popular Culture
This richly ethnographic book explores the relationship between migration and popular culture through a case study of the consumption practices of working-class, transnational Latina teens. While everyday consumption practices are examined at the local level, the processes of identity construction that Vargas seeks to address are akin to those created by diasporic youth around the world.
"One of the book's main contributions to media studies is Vargas's consideration of migratory status as central to understanding media consumption practices, along with class, race, and gender."
-Jackeline Lyon, Florida International University
Women Faculty of Color in the White Classroom
What is it like for women of color to teach in predominantly white college classrooms? This anthology is about the pedagogical implications of diversifying the faculty of higher education. It compiles narratives by women professors of color who interrogate their classroom experiences in predominantly white U.S. campuses to examine the impact of their social positions upon their classroom practices and their teaching-learning selves.
"… a unique contribution because most of the existing literature on the challenges of a diverse college classroom is directed to White faculty… [and it] would be helpful to any novice college teacher."
-Marie M. Clark, Peabody College of Education and Human Development, Vanderbilt University.
Social Uses and Radio Practices: The Use of Participatory Radio by Ethnic Minorities in Mexico
This book is about the social value of participatory or community-oriented radio and stresses how the politics of race, ethnicity, class, and gender shape the extent and quality of local people's participation in social change ("development") efforts. It shows, ethnographically, how a number of Mexican ethnic minorities use the communication resources made available to them by a network of radio stations sponsored by the federal government through its lnstituto Nacional lndigenista (now Casa de los Pueblos y Communidades Indígenas).
"…recommended for its contribution to the field in popular communication and culture in Latin America."
-Margaret Bullen, Universidad del País Vasco (Spain)